~ A blog about swing dancing, culture, and life.

Tag Archives: teaching

So you’ve been dancing for a short while, and you’re thinking about teaching. You could have a number of reasons. Maybe you want your friends/partner to dance but they are nervous about taking a class. Or maybe you live in a place where the scene is small and young, or doesn’t really exist at all, and it’s up to you to take the reins. Hell, maybe you just love lindy hop and want to marry it, but since lindy hop isn’t a physical object, a human, or capable of giving consent, you just want to become as involved with it as possible. These are all awesome reasons to teach, and there are tons that I didn’t mention and probably haven’t thought of. Honestly, I’m not convinced that there’s such a thing as a bad reason to teach lindy hop. I hereby bless your pedagogical endeavor. You can start today!

What’s that you say? You’re still nervous? You are afraid because you’re still learning so much, you don’t think you’ll ever be a Rockstar™, or you’re not even in the top level of your scene? Well, friend, maybe I can help. I’ve been dancing for five years (today’s my lindyversary!), and teaching for only three months fewer—that’s right, I started teaching three months after my first class. Was I awesome? Hell no! Was I nervous? Hell yes! It’s natural to be nervous about teaching for the first time, but I’m glad I did it. Looking back, I realize I didn’t have to be as nervous as I was. Here are a few bits of information that could have saved me a lot of stress. Continue reading →